pigeon pea

noun

: a leguminous shrubby herb (Cajanus cajan) with trifoliate leaves, yellow flowers, and flattened pods that is much cultivated especially in the tropics
also : its small highly nutritious seed

Examples of pigeon pea in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Pair the pork with moro con gandules (rice with pigeon peas) and platanos maduro fritos. — Charlotte Observer, 22 June 2026 Mains followed with braised short ribs nestled in mirepoix and thyme, alongside red snapper served with pigeon peas and bright escovitch. — Victoria Uwumarogie, Essence, 18 Dec. 2025 Many of these, such as okra, millets, and pigeon peas, have historically been overlooked and under harvested. — Daniela De Lorenzo, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024 There’s backyard favorites, like cheeseburgers, along with dishes with local flavors, such as Bahamian pigeon peas and rice. — Carly Caramanna, Parents, 15 June 2024 The father and daughter live 50 feet from each other, in concrete houses surrounded by plants that grow avocados, pigeon peas and plantains. — Wesley J. Pérez Vidal, NBC news, 22 July 2025 Ferrari and his family grow a host of other plants — coconuts, peach and pigeon peas, just to name a few — and selling mangoes was never about profit, anyway, so this summer’s loss was manageable. — Abigail Hasebroock, Sun Sentinel, 18 July 2024 There were juicy skinless sausages that burst with flavor every bite, a goat soup burning with hot pepper and vinegar, rice dishes in so many forms — long grain and short, teeming with plump raisins or pigeon peas, tinted with spices or citrus. — Lyndsay C. Green, Freep.com, 8 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1683, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of pigeon pea was in 1683

Rhymes for pigeon pea

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Browse Nearby Words

pigeon louse fly
pigeon pea
pigeon plover
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Pigeon pea.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pigeon%20pea. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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